Unwritten
by RowenVelvet
Summary: Sensing something amiss, Nasuada seeks out the source. This is a story fragment, but I may build on it further when I have more time.  Possible spoilers for the end of 'Inheritance'


_Well, like pretty much every single other person who read it, I was less than impressed with the end of the 'Inheritance'. In particular, I was disappointed by C.P.'s unwillingness to pull the trigger on the romances he nurtured throughout the series. Fairly depressed by this, I sought out a better ending here, and almost immediately stumbled onto the amazing works of **Restrained. Freedom **and **theAlphabet**. Encouraged by them, I began to write my own, but lately I've been so distracted with the other stories I'm working on, that this one has stalled. So I've decided to release this fragment as a oneshot for now, and maybe I can add more to it later. Enjoy!_

_P.S. Though this is not really a songfic, the title is a reference to the Natasha Bedingfield song. I just seemed an appropriate choice...  
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_**Unwritten**_

At once, without quite knowing why, she was awake. Perhaps it had been some sound, or vibration, or even a difference in the way the wind sounded outside her window. She'd never been a terribly heavy sleeper, but ever since her ascension, first to leader of the Varden, then high queen of Alagaesia, her sleep had grown a great deal lighter, and with good reason.

It was only just a year since her coronation, and there were still plenty left of those who had preferred the old regime, and would like nothing better than to see the new queen dead. For that reason, after much consideration, her sleeping quarters had been moved to a malachite spire not far from the one in which she had been chosen to become queen.

They had chosen the highest spire that lay beyond the edge the overhang. It boasted only one entrance and a narrow, winding staircase was the only access to her chambers, which gave her guards a defensible position, in the event of a brute force assault. It's height and location helped to prevent attacks from above, like the one a few weeks after her coronation, that had taken the lives of several of her attendants and guards, and broken both her wrist and leg. Finally, Arya had seen to it, that copious wards were placed around the tower, in order to protect from all manner of projectiles.

There was, without doubt, no safer place in all of Illyria. Yet she had been awakened by something this midsummer night... When she tried to pinpoint the reason, it could only be described as a vague weight and warmth on her mind that she couldn't entirely attribute to the fog of sleep.

Something _was_ there. She turned her senses to the thin partition that divided her bedchamber from Elva's sleeping quarters.

She'd not cried out, so either there was no threat, or she had been incapacitated in some way before she could. After a moment, she was able to make out the sound of Elva's breathing, it remained in a sleeping rhythm.

Taking no chances, she pulled on her robe, and rose. Grabbing the dagger her father had given her so long ago, from the night table as she passed, she concealed it in the generous sleeve of her robe.

She paused outside the cloth that afforded some privacy between Elva's area and her own, contemplating whether to wake the child, but the decision was made for her, when she heard the girl stir.

"M'lady, is something wrong?"

"No, Elva, I think not... Perhaps I'm only restless. Go back to sleep."

After a moment, she heard the child resettle herself in her bed. Clearly, not in the least bit alarmed. Still, Nasuada felt the nagging sense that there was something where there shouldn't be, or perhaps it was nothing where there should...

She walked to the chamber door. Opening it, she nodded to the guards on the landing below. When they inquired if there was anything she might need, she simply shook her head, then turned to look up the stairs that led to the tower's peak. Whatever it was the sense of it seemed stronger above than below.

Climbing to the pinnacle, she looked out across the broad smooth expanse of stone that crowned the immense tower, but saw nothing. A full moon above lit the creamy marble perfectly, not a shadow was out of place.

Still something didn't feel quite right, not malevolent per se, just off. Without consciously deciding to do so, she fell back on something her father had taught her long ago.

Allowing her eyes to drift shut, she swiveled her head slowly from side to side, as she sought out any anomalies. The anomalies themselves were difficult to describe, more of a feeling than something heard really, but if pressed she would have described it as a muted rushing, a silence where there shouldn't be, almost as if someone had cupped their hand loosely next to her ear.

What ever the case, it worked... Off to her left, there was a dulling of the ambient sound.

Without opening her eyes, she turned, and with a slow shuffling gate, began to move toward it. At this altitude the breeze was stiff, but thanks to the season, not particularly cold. It tugged at her robe and shift, plastering them tightly to her legs, as she carefully made her way across the cool, polished, stone.

She kept one arm somewhat extended, so that, should there be no other indications, she would feel the low stone rail that marked the edge, before she tumbled over it. As she drew near, the anomaly grew substantially, as did the confidence she had in her instincts.

Unfortunately, they could not warn her of every obstacle that might obstruct her path... Her slippered foot caught against the raised edge of a buckled stone tile, and she pitched forward with a soft cry of surprise.

Her momentum should have sent her reeling...

She should have toppled unceremoniously to her hands and knees...

But she didn't.

Instead, she found herself suspended, mid fall, by some unseen force that lay across her midsection... It was warm, and relatively soft, yet unyielding.

"Must you be so impulsive?" A familiar voice said quietly, the breath of it warming her ear with it's closeness.

A lyrical whisper of lovely, yet incomprehensible words, quickly followed the statement, raising the hairs on the back of her neck. At their conclusion, the force materialized into an arm. She had heard those words, and felt those sensations, once before...

A song of vanishing it was... Its tuneless harmony had haunted her dreams from the moment _he_ had vanished from her sight and life a little over a year ago. Within the long sleeve of her robe, she still gripped the jeweled dagger tightly, but now she knew it was unnecessary. As the arm set her gently on her feet, she turned and embraced it's owner warmly.

He seemed surprised at first, then after a moment, returned it in kind. When she let go, however, he only released her to arm's length.

Resting his hands lightly on her shoulders, he looked down into her moonlit face. His own would have been in shadow, had it not been for the ambient light reflected up by the cream colored marble, but she could see that it was filled with wonderment.

Though she was rather tall for a woman, he still stood better than a head taller. As she gazed up at him, her vision clouded with tears of relief, she could feel the wind chilling the tracks they left as they slid down her cheeks.

Suddenly all the grief, and emptiness, and worry that had been growing inside her since the moment he'd vanished from her sight outside the fortress, melted away as his form had then. It was hard to express the immensity of the relief she felt, but somehow she managed to do it with three simple words...

"I've missed you."

The smile he gave was bittersweet, as he lifted his hand to her jaw and brushed at her tears with his thumb.

"I've missed you too."

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_So, what do you think? Love it? Hate it? A solid Meh? I'd love to hear from you, so please review, and feel free to voice your opinions of where you'd like to see me go from here. Thanks for reading! _


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